Early on, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was occasionally criticized for its villains, but over 15 years later, the franchise does villains better than anyone else. The MCU broke new ground for comic book films when it began back in 2008. At that point, superhero movies and shows had already been established as a reasonably successful genre, but they rarely stood out in the larger landscape of cinema, appealing to a narrow audience that rarely became mainstream.

However, when Iron Man came out, it changed the game for superhero movies. This effect was only compounded with the release of films like Thor and Captain America, weaving in subtle connections as they built a larger world for these heroes. And while they managed to create engaging heroes based on many incredible characters by the genius creator Stan Lee, it took a moment for the MCU to really nail down getting the villains right. However, more than 15 years after the MCU debuted, it's safe to say that the villains in the MCU are layered, full of depth, and engaging.

The MCU's Villains Are Rarely All Bad

MCU Villains Have A Lot Of Nuance And Complexity

In fact, many of the MCU's villains make valid points that tend to get the audience feeling pangs of empathy for them. Early on, this could be seen with characters like Aldritch Killian and Ivan Vanko in Iron Man's movies, two people who had personally been impacted by the negative actions of Stark and his family. Then, with Thanos, the first overarching villain of the series, his personal mission was an effort to make resources more plentiful and stop scarcity in the universe. However, his wiping out half of all life in the galaxy hardly accomplished that goal.

The record isn't perfect, there are MCU villains who appear to be completely awful, like Cassandra Nova and Obadiah Stane, but even then, these characters have been neglected and pushed aside, and they harbor rage and resentment because of it. Others, like Dar-Benn of The Marvels legitimately had their world seriously affected by Captain Marvel's thoughtless 'heroism.' Loki had an outstanding arc from villain to hero, and Kang's variants proved that he wasn't inherently a bad guy with the introduction of Victor Timely.

Stan Lee Set The Rule That The MCU Villains Still Follow Decades Later

Stan Lee Keeps Influencing The MCU Long After His Death

And all of these villains having some degree of nuance actually stems back to a rule set up by the father of modern Marvel Comics, Stan Lee. One of Stan's greatest contributions to the world, beyond his incredible characters, was the regular Soapbox columns he would include in the comics, where he would wax philosophical and share his personal ideas and values with the world. And in one such Soapbox column from March 1969, Stan shared this sentiment about the essence of heroes and villains:

"One of the things we try to demonstrate in our yarns is that nobody is all good, or all bad. Even a shoddy super-villain can have a redeeming trait, just as any howlin’ hero might have his nutty hang-ups. One of the greatest barriers to real peace and justice in this troubled world is the feeling that everyone on the other side of the ideological fence is a “bad guy”. We don’t know if you’re a far-out radical, or Mr. Establishment himself — if you’re a black militant or a white liberal — if you’re a pantin’ protest marcher or a jolly John Bircher — but, whatever you are, don’t get bogged down by kindergarten labels! It’s time we learned how fruitless it is to think in of us and them — of black and white. Maybe, just maybe, the other side isn’t all bad. Maybe your own point of view isn’t the only one that’s divinely inspired. Maybe we’ll never find true understanding until we listen to the other guy; and until we realize that we can never march across the Rainbow Bridge to true Nirvana — unless we do it side-by-side!"

The reality is that when a villain is all bad, they become one-dimensional and boring. In the same vein, the heroes who have complex backgrounds and motives can be the focus of more interesting stories. This can be seen by the popularity of anti-hero stories, and shows like The Boys or Watchmen. A villain who has some sort of relatable motive, even if their conclusion is way off base, becomes far more interesting, and someone worth saving and engaging with. It makes for better stories, and more interesting arcs, and the MCU continues to try and incorporate this aspect into their villains today.

MCU Movies

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  Captain America: Brave New World

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  Thunderbolts*

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  The Fantastic Four: First Steps

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  Avengers: Doomsday (2026)

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  Spider-Man: Brand New Day

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  Avengers: Secret Wars

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